Britain awards eastern England rail contract to Abellio

Reuters Staff

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LONDON, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Britain awarded a contract to run rail services in East Anglia to the incumbent operator Abellio East Anglia, as part of a deal which included a 1 billion pound ($1.3 billion) deal for the UK arm of manufacturer Bombardier to supply new trains.

Abellio East Anglia, owned by Dutch firm NS, will run rail services between London, Cambridge and Norwich from October until 2025. The government selected the Dutch operator over rival bids from FirstGroup and National Express.

In its statement, Britain’s Department For Transport said the deal included a 1 billion pound contract for Bombardier to build 660 new carriages at its Derby, England-based factory, to expand capacity on the eastern England routes.